What Are the Cheapest Vegetables? 11 Produce Options That Are the Best Bang for Your Buck

Katherine Gillen
·6 min read

Groceries are getting more expensive, and it’s not just the fancy type of yogurt I like to splurge on occasionally. Even if I’m just picking up a bunch of scallions and a bell pepper, my eyes pop at the total rising as the checkout person rings up my purchases. “I don’t want the receipt!” I half-yell as I run out the door and try to forget that I just spent my life savings on the ingredients for chickpea curry. If you’re working with a tight budget, shopping for dinner can feel discouraging, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Wondering what are the cheapest vegetables you can buy? From potatoes to cucumbers, these 11 veggies are the best fresh produce choices for your budget, with prices sourced from the USDA’s most recent Economic Research Service reports.

Psst: The below list refers to conventional fresh produce, not organic. I’m not Daddy Warbucks!

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1. Potatoes

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Available year-round, the humble spud tops this list as the cheapest vegetable you can buy. Plus, if you know how to store potatoes correctly, they can last a long time in your pantry (and by “long time,” I mean up to six months). They’re filling and versatile—mash them, roast them, use them for soups—not to mention surprisingly healthy, with more 40 percent potassium than a banana, per the USDA.

2. Green Cabbage

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If you still think the only things cabbage is good for are gloppy coleslaws and sad, boiled side dishes, you should reconsider this dense, crisp brassica (which is related to Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and kale). Not only is it one of the cheapest vegetables you can buy, but one densely packed head also goes a long way and lasts a while in your fridge. Try it raw as a hardier alternative to lettuce in salad, or slow-roast it until tender and sweet.

3. Whole Carrots

Carrots are both easy on your wallet and easy to make into something delicious for dinner, since they lend themselves to many cooking methods (and many dishes). Cook them until tender to unlock their natural sweetness or leave them raw and shred them into a salad. Hate prepping them? So did I, until I discovered this fast, easy carrot-peeling hack.

4. Onions

Onions are an aromatic base in myriad recipes, so it’s a good thing they’re relatively inexpensive. But they don’t have to take a backseat to other vegetables: Try caramelizing them until jammy and sweet, making them into quick-pickled onions for tacos and burgers or stuffing them with meat and grains for a twist on stuffed peppers.

5. Celery

The celery juice trend may have come and gone, but these stalks are here to stay. They’re good for crunchy snacks like ants on a log, dunking into creamy dips, adding body and flavor to soups and even replacing lettuce in a salad. And if you know how to store celery, it will stay crisp in your fridge for weeks.

6. Iceberg Lettuce

Of all the different types of lettuce, iceberg is by far the crunchiest—and, as it turns out, the cheapest, too. You can’t make a wedge salad without it, but if you end up with extra, try shredding it finely to add texture to sandwiches or noodle bowls.

7. Red Cabbage

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Like green cabbage, red (aka purple) cabbage makes this list of cheapest vegetables. Although they can be used interchangeably, this colorful variety has an earthier flavor, and that vibrant hue will turn slightly blue when cooked. (I prefer to use it raw, but you don’t have to.)

8. Sweet Potatoes

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If you ask me, sweet potatoes will never get old. They’re high in fiber and taste like candy, and they’re good in everything from tacos to chili to hummus. Like white potatoes, sweet potatoes will keep in a cool, dark, dry place for a few months.

9. Roma and Plum Tomatoes

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These oblong tomatoes are sometimes labeled Roma (or just plum), and they’re available year-round. Since the plum tomatoes you find in grocery stores are usually out of season, they’re not quite as flavorful as an heirloom variety you’d grow yourself or buy at the farmers market, but their firm texture and few seeds make them good for canning or making sauce. (And since they’re cheap, you can buy a bunch.)

10. Acorn Squash

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Acorn squash is mild, sweet and nutty and lends itself well to baking, roasting, steaming or halving and stuffing with savory fillings (like pork or turkey). Like other winter squash varieties, buy one and it will keep in a cool, dark spot in your kitchen for about a month.

11. Cucumbers

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I used to think of cucumber as a boring addition to sad salads, but this cheap vegetable is so much more than a topping. Slice it into thin ribbons and use it as a salad base with a spicy dressing or bake it (really!) to bring out its sweetness. If you want to ball out, buy a whole bunch and turn them into homemade pickles.

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